The subject matter herein relates generally to high speed electrical connectors.
Electrical connector systems typically experience electrical interference, such as cross-talk and resonant frequency noise, at or around a mating zone where two electrical connectors electrically engage each other, particularly at high signal transmission frequencies (e.g., greater than 15 or 20 GHz). For example, high speed connectors may exhibit resonance spikes within the mating zone at certain frequencies. The resonance spikes may interfere with and degrade signal transmission between the connectors. To improve performance by reducing the electrical interference in the mating zone,
Some known electrical connectors attempt to reduce electrical interference by including metal tie bars that electrically connect grounding contacts and/or other grounding elements together within the electrical connector. The metal tie bars may desirably reduce low frequency resonances within the electrical connector, such as in the frequency range below 15 GHz, but are often impractical to implement for resonances occurring at frequencies greater than 15 GHz. These higher frequency resonances may be caused by features in the mating zone.
A need remains for an electrical connector that effectively mitigates high frequency resonances in the mating zone.